Individuals experiencing acute or chronic health conditions may engage with and receive prescriptions from multiple healthcare professionals. Tracking all medication, including over-the-counter options, is essential for preventing adverse drug events. The local pharmacist is often the common denominator and an easily accessible resource for additional education and guidance. Community pharmacies across the Dakotas are enhancing services and playing a pivotal role for improving medication safety and quality of life.

Objectives:

1. Describe enhanced services available within the pharmacy setting
2. Identify high-risk drugs groups and interactions
3. Explain the process for identifying individuals at risk for opioid misuse
4. Review the benefits of naloxone distribution

Presenters:

Josh Ohrtman, PharmD
Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network (CPESN)
Rapid City, SD

Faith Wentzel, PharmD
Family HealthCare Pharmacy
Fargo, North Dakota

Presenter Bios:

Josh Ohrtman enjoys the opportunity to form lasting relationships with pharmacy patients while using his research background and critical thinking skills to help patients solve their health-related and medication therapy problems. He enjoys working directly with patients and has found great pleasure developing and offering clinical services to patients in and out of the pharmacy. Josh shared, “As a pharmacist in today’s health care system, I believe my role as a pharmacist goes far beyond administering medications. I take great pride in providing the best possible health care and I constantly strive to be a patient advocate.”

Faith Wentzel is a staff pharmacist at Family HealthCare Pharmacy in Fargo, ND. She has been utilizing the ONE program since its beginning in 2018 and has experience in incorporating the program into the workflow of two retail pharmacies.